Padrick Salton
Private Padrick "Pad" Salton was a Southern Islander Gear soldier who was known for being one of the greatest snipers in the Pendulum Wars, fighting at Anvil Gate and along the Sarfuth-Maranday border. During the Locust War, he fought in several battles one year after Emergence Day, until he fell into a depression and disappeared. Red-headed and freckled, Pad had the typical "Islander" attitude to go along with his tribal tattoos, even though he was descended from a "northerner" immigrant to the South Islands. Biography Early Life Little is known of Pad's early life, except that he grew up on the South Islands, and possibly grew up on a farm. He eventully joined the Coalition of Ordered Governments army as a sniper.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 382 Siege of Anvil Gate Stationed at Anvil Gate Seventeen years before Emergence Day, Pad was stationed at Anvil Gate, in the city of Anvegad, Kashkur. During the first week of Rise,Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 87 Pad was cooking for the rest of his platoon when Lt.Victor Hoffman arrived in the mess hall. Pad offered him a fried egg sandwich, which Hoffman accepted. As the rest of the platoon came into the mess, Pad continued to cook them food. The Gears talked about how boring it was being stationed in Anvegad. They listened to the news on the radio, and heard about Vasgar, a neutral country that Kashkur bordered, and its political and financial trouble. Pad then read a letter he had received from his home in the South Islands.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 93-95 After the Vasgar government collapsed, the Union of Independent Republics began moving in to take the country over, while also launching attacks on Kashkur. Pad began inspecting every part of the fort to find the best sniper position, although Hoffman doubted that any Indie soldiers would get past the main guns. Pad held the view that one or two always did, and that that was why he was there. They then observed the large amount of supplies that Captain Ranald Sander was having brought into the fort. Pad wondered if Sander was worried about a siege, but Hoffman was just glad that Sander was taking precautions. They discussed how far the Indies would get into Kashkur before being turned back, and Pad felt sorry for the citizens of Vasgar, since the COG had cut off Imulsion supplies to them.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 166-168 Pad then headed to the mess hall, and listened to the radio with Sgt.Samuel Byrne. Hoffman arrived soon after, and Pad and him encouraged Byrne to marry his pregnant girlfriend.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 171-172 Besieged Shortly after this, UIR sabotage teams set off explosives on the canyon walls overlooking the only road out of Anvegad into the rest of Kashkur, beginning the Siege of Anvil Gate. Pad and his squad covered Byrne as he investigated the explosion.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 175 After the incident, Pad began staying on the highest points he could find, and used his Longshot Sniper Rifle to keep an eye out for more enemy activity.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 223 After a rocket was fired into one of the artillery rooms from behind the fort, killing Captain Sanders, Hoffman took over command of the fort and ordered Pad to head out with Byrne and find the person who had shot the RPG.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 243 They went out with a local man, but were unable to find the Indie. Pad recommended to Hoffman that they set up an observation post that gave a three-sixty degree view of the fort, so they could keep an eye out in every direction. Hoffman approved, and ordered him to set it up.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 271 A short time later, Pad was sent out to meet with six Pesang troops who were being dropped off at night outside the fort. He was startled when an explosion lit up the sky and he saw them standing right in front of him. Pad was instantly impressed with the Pesang troopers, and their leader, Pvt.Bai Tak, introduced himself to Pad. He escorted them back to the fort, and asked them questions about their machetes along the way.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 290-291 He took them to Hoffman, who was also impressed by the soldiers. He had Pad take them to get settled in and fed.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 364 After a few patrols, Bai brought back a sniper rifle he had taken from an Indie soldier and gave it to Pad. He was happy to have the rifle, and impressed because he hadn't heard any shots, meaning that Bai had used his machete.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 375-376 Breaking the Siege By the third month of the siege, Hoffman came up with a plan to defeat the enemy army: fake surrender, have the enemy let the civilians leave, let the enemy in, and burn the city down around them. Pad attended a briefing where Hoffman laid out the plan, and Pvt.Lau En reported that there were two hundred Indie soldiers outside the fort. Hoffman told them that they would escape the trap by going into the tunnels under the city, and that they the majority of the city was made of stone, so they needed the herd the Indies into the wooden areas. Hoffman made the call on the radio to surrender, and got a guarantee of safe passage for the civilians. Pad and the rest of the soldiers then tried to convince Byrne to go with his wife, but he refused, saying he could not abandon his comrades.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 413-415 During the fake surrender, Pad and the Pesangas monitored the enemy, and were tasked with closing the gate once they were all inside. Once they were in, Pad informed Hoffman, and was given the order to close the gate.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 418-419 Pad made it to the tunnels safely, but several other Gears, including Byrne, were killed during the battle. Pad called into command to let them know that they had held the city. However, they then learned that they hadn't needed to fake surrender: hundreds of reinforcements were inbound to relieve them.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 422-423 Pad and Hoffman never told Byrne’s wife or his daughter, Samantha Byrne, who became a Gear herself, that their husband and father hadn't needed to die.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 432 Stationed on the Sarfuth-Maranday Border Raid on Gralia Two months later, Pad and the rest of the 26th RTI were transferred to the Sarfuth-Maranday border. He was selected along with Baz, Pvt.Sommers, Bai, and Cho Ligan by Hoffman for a mission across the neutral border of Maranday to take out a radar station at Gralia in the Republic of Lauczi. After Hoffman informed them that he would be going with them, Pad remarked to Baz that Hoffman was worried about being promoted again and being stuck in an office. The team used a delivery truck to drive through Maranday, with Sommers and Hoffman up front while Pad and the others hid in the back. They passed through the checkpoint into Lauczi without incident, and hid the truck five kilometers from Gralia. They armored up, and proceeded on foot to the radio outpost, where Hoffman ordered Pad to climb up into a tree to provide cover with his sniper rifle. Pad was worried that they didn't know how many guards were in the base, but Hoffman told him he didn't plan on a shootout. Pad then selected the best tree he could find, and climbed up into a position to guard the others. A guard blocked their entrance point, but Hoffman denied Pad permission to snipe him, instead sending Bai and Cho to kill him quietly. After the explosives were planted the team was noticed, and was tracked by a searchlight, but Pad shot and destroyed it. Sommers blew the charges, and Pad climbed out of the tree and joined the others in racing back to the truck to escape the country. They were forced to shoot their way through a Maranday border checkpoint to get rid of witnesses, but managed to reach the town of Senio in Sarfuth, linking up with the rest of the 26th RTI.Gears of War: Unseen Sarfuth-Maranday Border Incident Fourteen years later, Pad was in sniper team Three-Zero, which was stationed with C Company of the 26th RTI at a base along the Sarfuth-Maranday border, with Baz serving as his spotter during the Sarfuth-Maranday Border Incident. They worked with Alpha-Five, consisting of Cpl.Marcus Fenix and Pvt.Carlos Santiago to guard a Imulsion pipeline on the border between Sarfuth and neutral Maranday. He and Baz hid in a snow-hole next to a hill, giving them a view of the entire pipeline. When Pad spotted somebody digging animal traps near the pipeline, he informed Marcus and Carlos. After the hunter left, they inspected the hole, and Carlos contacted Pad, telling him that it was just a snare, but could be the preparation for a bomb. Marcus and Carlos hid near the hole while Pad and Baz kept an eye out for possible follow-up saboteurs. When a man on a Ski-Bike began approaching the hole sometime later, and Pad kept his Longshot trained on him as he reached the hole. When the guy began taking out large amounts of something, Pad knew he was a saboteur, since the animals in the region were not large and did not need traps that big. He informed Marcus and Carlos, and informed them he had a clear shot on the guy. They continued to monitor him for a bit, until something spooked him and he began running for his vehicle. Marcus told Pad to hold fire while he and Carlos pursued, much to Pad's annoyance. When it appeared that the guy might make it across the border, Pad informed them that he still had a shot, but Marcus did not give him approval to fire. When they chased them over the border, Pad began yelling at them to come back, but Carlos tackled the guy and was forced to stab him.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 98-107 As Marcus and Carlos dragged the body back across the border, Pad and Baz moved from cover to cover to meet them back at their APC. Pad told them to leave the body, but Marcus told him they needed to take it back for identification. After they got back to base, Pad went to the barracks to watch the Thrashball finals with Baz, and told a glum Carlos to cheer up, and that they had saved the pipeline.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 116 End of the War Skirmish in Ghato City Three years later, Pad was assigned to a squad with Marcus, Pvt.Dominic Santiago, and Pvt.Tai Kaliso. C Company was involved with fighting in the Independent Republic of Furlin, and Pad and the others were sent to take out a group of Indies in Ghato City. They took cover in a ruined building to avoid Indie mortar fire, and Marcus asked Pad if he could reach a roof in order to snipe the Indies. He told him he could reach it if he was given covering fire, so Marcus had Tai fire an RPG at the Indies. As Tai prepared the RPG, he stated that they often sought balance in war but often only found stalemate, causing Pad to tell him to give his philosophical statements a rest and fire the rocket. After he did so, Pad began running across the battlefield while the Indies recovered from the rocket blast, reaching the building with the roof and climbing up it. He looked through his scope and saw six Indies holed up with a machine gun. Pad sniped the Indie manning the machine gun position, and Marcus, Dom, and Tai rushed the other Indies. Marcus contacted Pad and asked him many there were, and as Pad shot two more, he told Marcus that there were only three left. The rest of the squad killed the remaining Indies, and Pad climbed down from the roof to rejoin them. After informing command their mission had succeeded, they began walking to Tenla to regroup with the rest of C Company.Gears of War: Promise Me Ceasefire Announcement and Cliffside Ambush Two weeks later, Pad was driving a truck in formation with the rest of C Company's vehicles when the unit stopped on a cliffside road overlooking a Furlin town. As the got out of the vehicle, another Gear called them over to listen to the radio, and they heard that Chairman Tomas Dalyell had met with Premier Yori Deschenko to discuss terms for the UIR's surrender. The UIR was surrendering because of the deployment of the Hammer of Dawn weapons platform which had been developed by Professor Adam Fenix. Pad and the rest of the company began celebrating, but were interrupted when Indie forces began shelling them and the nearby town from another mountain. Pad took cover with the rest of the company, and told Marcus this was crazy and that the Indies had to know the war was over. Marcus told him that if it was them, they would probably fight to the last as well, and they might think the news was propaganda. Pad commented that it better not be. They began returning fire with the Indies, and Lt.Preston told them that the captain was trying to work out a ceasefire with the Indie commander. Eventually, the Indies stopped firing and surrendered after gaining confirmation that the surrender was real. The Gears then occupied the nearby town, and Pad gathered with the rest of the squad by their vehicle and counted down the seconds to noon, when the surrender was put into full effect and ended the war. With the end of the war, Pad was hailed as one of the greatest snipers in the army, having over four hundred confirmed kills. One Year after Emergence Day Losing Baz After the Pendulum Wars ended, the Locust emerged and attacked Sera. Baz was killed less than a year into the war, which deeply affected Pad.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 132 Battle of Jannermont One year into the war, Pad was still assigned to a squad with Marcus, Dom, and Tai, and they were ordered to patrol in APC-Two-Eighty fifteen kilometers south of Kinnerlake. They were issued a recall order back to Ephyra, and Pad drove the APC with guidance from the squads bot, Baz, which Pad had named after his spotter, and considered it to be another member of the squad. When they became stuck in a traffic jam, Pad got out of the vehicle and saw that a sewer line ahead had collapsed, so he took the APC off-road to bypass the obstacle. The rough off-road driving awoke Tai, who had been sleeping in the back of the APC, and he told Pad they would reach their destined place in the world no matter how fast he drove. Pad told him that he didn't believe in destiny, and that doing so could lead to one accepting anything. Tai made another strange philosophical comment that Pad needed to embrace what he couldn't change, but Pad dismissed this advice as well. As they drove, Baz diverted them further off course under orders from Control. Pad contacted the Kinnerlake Sector Control and asked them about the diversion, and was informed that the Locust had attacked the city of Jannermont, and the COG didn't have any forces defending it. Pad and the others decided to disobey orders and head to the town and see if they could help. When they arrived, they discovered the Locust attacking a general store in the middle of the city. Pad got the civilians out while the rest of the squad killed the Locust, with Tai saving Marcus from a Drone by using a power saw. Pad was impressed with Tai's use of the power saw, and thought that it worked better than the bayonets on the Lancers, and wondered if they could somehow attach a power saw to the Lancer. They then gathered the wounded civilians and took them to a first-aid station. Pad and the others then got back into the APC and got back on route to the rendezvous, but because they had stopped, they were going to miss the convoy made up of the rest of A Company. As they drove, the APC broke down, and Pad was unable to fix it after several attempts, and contacted Control to inform them. He was told that no engineer units were nearby, and that they would have to walk to the nearest convoy point. They stripped it of everything usable, and began walking along the highway, led by Baz and his flashlights.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 130-142 Rushing back to Ephyra After walking all night, Pad and the squad reached a vehicle checkpoint along the Ephyra-Kinnerlake highway, where they heard Chairman Richard Prescotts announcement of the Hammer of Dawn counterattack. Pad and the others helped hold back people from rushing the bridge, and escorted several civilians back to their cars. He helped Marcus get the phone number of the wife of man who had a baby with him in order to help get him calmed down and back to his car. Marcus was then told by Sgt.Mendez that he was being held at the checkpoint because his father had requested he be evacuated, but Marcus refused to leave the squad. Pad watched as he instead went backt to the civilian with the baby and put them on board the King Raven that had come to pick him up. Pad was amazed that he had chosen to stay behind, but Marcus told him he was just doing his job. Pad and the others then began to move abandoned cars out of the way, in order to allow military and civilian traffic to move again. After they finished, they boarded a convoy heading back to Ephyra.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 180-187 Clearing the Voslov Bridge After making it back to Ephyra, Pad and the others were deployed to reopen the Voslov Bridge a mere seven hours before the Hammer strike. They arrived to find fifty Locust Drones had destroyed a convoy crossing the bridge, and were looting the remains. They headed to the bridge control booth, where Pad used his sinper rifle to watch the Locust, and they tried to figure out a plan to kill the Locust and clear the convoy remains before another one arrived. Marcus decided they would raise the bridge, sending the cars and Locust on it sliding down towards the other Locust. Tai began setting up the Longspear launcher, and Pad noticed that he was smiling as he did so, and remarked that nothing was ever going to wipe it off his face. Pad waited for a majority of the Locust to be on the bridge, and told Marcus to lift it up, killing all the Locust on it as they were crushed by vehicles. Tai then fired a Longspear into a fuel truck, killing most of the other Drones. Pad complimented his nice shot, but Marcus was worried that a bulldozer he had seen was damaged by the blast, but Pad reassured him it was okay. The four of them then mopped up what was left of the Locust, and waited a few minutes to let the fires burn themselves out. Pad then entered the bulldozer, and cleared all the wreckage and cars blocking the bridge by pushing them into the river. He had fun doing it, clearing a larger area of wreckage then was needed, until Marcus forced him to stop. They got back into their APC, and Pad drove it to the rear of the last convoy to make it safely to Ephyra.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 276-284 Scouting a Wasteland Five days after the Hammer of Dawn strike, Pad and the others were selected to scout areas near Ephyra that were hit by the Hammer of Dawn strike. While waiting to be briefed, Pad remarked to Dom that Marcus was probably feeling pretty terrible after the strike, since his dad had been the one to build the Hammer. Dom warned him not to say anything to Marcus about it, but Pad thought that sooner or later, someone was going to give Marcus trouble over it, and that it would likely further increase his need to try and save people. After Col.Victor Hoffman briefed them, Pad drove PA-Five-One during the mission, and he was forced to take a cross-country route because of all the abandoned cars on the road. He drove it on a course toward Gerrenhalt for several hours, stopping every few hours to take recon pictures, but they found nothing but devastation. They stopped a kilometer away from the city, and decided to turn back after a quick break because the terrain was too rough on the APC. As Pad went to relieve himself, he was horrified to realize he was standing on top of dozens of burned bodies. He returned to the APC shaken up, and told the others what had happened. After getting into the driver’s seat and trying to start the APC, he was unable to drive it back to base because he couldn't stop shaking. Marcus took over driving, and Pad stayed quiet for the entire ride back, with his head in his hands. After they got back, Pad sat down in front of the APC, and talked about shooting people with his Longshot, and their instant, painless death in a wistful tone. After sitting for several more minutes, he left the APC hanger, and his squadmates became worried about his safety, and decided to take shifts watching to make sure he didn't try to hurt himself.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 313-323 Returning to the Wasteland Twelve days later Pad got into a bar fight with a person who insulted Marcus's dad, and gained a black eye. The next day, he went back out on a scouting mission along the Corren-Kinnerlake highway with Hoffman, so that he could adjust to patrolling without losing it again. Hoffman told him that there had been no word yet from the South Island, but Pad told him that it had taken awhile after Emergence Day for contact to be reestablished with them, so he could hope they were okay and just couldn't contact them. Hoffman mentioned that Tai hadn't talked about any of it, and Pad told him that he had his mystical fate and eternity stuff going on to help him cope. Hoffman asked him how he had gotten his black eye, and Pad told him, saying he felt he had needed to defend the 26th RTI's honor. Pad then told Hoffman he was sorry to hear about his wife, who was presumed dead after the Hammer strike. Pad offered to help Hoffman look for her if he had a last reported location, but Hoffman told him he did not expect to find her and that it would be a waste of time. Pad then spotted movement, which they tracked to a cellar, thinking it was a Drone that had come from an Emergence Hole. As Pad approached the hole and sighted up, he discovered that it was a woman who had survived the Hammer strike. She spoke in a foreign accent, and told them that she had survived by hiding in the drains. As Pad attempted to help her up and offered to take her with them, she attacked him, screaming that they were the ones who had tried to kill her. Her nails cut into his face, but Hoffman managed to grab her, and Pad tried to explain to her that they were only trying to help and get her to safety. She spat in his face and told him that he couldn't help her, and that all the COG had done was try and kill everyone who had come to Ephyra looking for a safe place. When she stopped struggling and began to collapse, Hoffman let her go. Pad tried to apologize to her for what had happened, and Hoffman asked her to please come with them to Ephyra, but she fled back into the sewer, claiming she would stay with people she trusted. This made Pad and Hoffman realize that there were more survivors down there, and Pad wondered if they could be everywhere. Pad left food and water at the entrance, and the two of them returned to their vehicle. As he and Hoffman headed back to their Packhorse, Pad was left feeling even worse than he had before the patrol.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 327-334 Disappearance At some point after this, Pad apparently disappeared. Fifteen years after Emergence Day, Hoffman, while reflecting on the Siege of Anvil Gate and the death of Samuel Byrne, wondered where Pad had disappeared to and if he was still alive.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 432 Personality and Traits Pad had the typical South Islander attitude, and was an expert marksman.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 98 He enjoyed cooking, and added hot South Island spices to all of his food. He had pale skin, which contrasted sharply with his full-face blue tribal tattoos.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 93 Pad did not believe in destiny, and thought that those who did were likely to accept all kinds of things as inevitable.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 134 After his spotter was killed, he became noticeably surlier. After scouting the aftermath of the Hammer of Dawn counterattack, Pad became wistful, and talked of instant death like it was a good thing.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 322-323 This depression may have led to his eventual disappearance. Behind the Scenes *Padrick Salton's character is based on a New Zealander family that immigrated and settled and integrated into the Maori culture.http://karentraviss.typepad.com/blog/2010/05/a-gears-geography-lesson.html Salton also speaks Commonwealth English. References Category:Characters Category:Gear Soldier Category:COG Category:Pendulum Wars veterans Category:South Islanders Category:Males